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Films screening this fortnight are listed below with certificate, star rating, credits, brief review and venue details. Film index compiled by Paul Dale ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry Aayirathil Oruvan (12A) (K Selvaraghavan, India, 2009) Karthik Sivakumar, Reema Sen, Andrea. 160min. Epic Tamil presentation set in the present day and the 12th Century at the time of the time of the Chola Dynasty. Cineworld Renfrew Street, Glasgow. All About Steve (12A) ●●●●● (Phil Traill, US, 2009) Sandra Bullock, Thomas Haden Church, Bradley Cooper. 98min. Bullock plays Mary Horowitz, a dowdy crossword-compiler who, after a blind date with news cameraman Steve (Cooper), embarks on a cross-country chase to stalk her unwary quarry. With repeated non-jokes about rape, child deformity and an idiotic finale, this makes for toe-curling stuff. Selected release. Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel (U) ●●●●● (Betty Thomas, US, 2009) Voices of Justin Long, Anna Faris, Jason Lee. 88min. The singing chipmunk trio contend with the pressures of high school, celebrity and rival female band The Chipettes. General release. Amélie (15) ●●●●● (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France, 2001) Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Serge Merlin. 120min. Within Jeunet’s fantastical world – a reimagining of Paris’ oldest quarter, Montmartre – the eccentric adventures of his eponymous heroine unfold in a manner as complex as a Swiss timepiece when Amélie decides to bring happiness to deserving people by playing elaborate practical jokes on them. A film that celebrates all the little, great things in life. Scotsman Screening Room, Edinburgh. And Along Come Tourists (12) (Robert Thalheim, Germany, 2007) Alexandra Fehling, Ryszard Ronczewski, Barbara Wysocka. 82min. As an alternative to military service, Sven (Fehling), a nineteen-year-old German, is assigned to work at the former concentration camp Auschwitz. Here he is confronted by the demands of a modern tourist industry and the contempt of the local people. A Holocaust Memorial Day screening. Filmhouse, Edinburgh.
Armored (12A) ●●●●● (Nimród Antal, US, 2010) Matt Damon. 87min. See feature, page 46 and Also Released, page 49. Selected release. Avatar 2D (12A) ●●●●● (James Cameron, US, 2009) Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez. 166min. Set in 2154, Cameron’s much- hyped Avatar focuses on a paraplegic marine named Jake Sully (Worthington), who arrives on the distant moon of Pandora with a mission to help displace its indigenous population. But, after winning their trust, Jake finds his allegiances gradually shifting. High on technical flair but short on storytelling ambition, this visually stunning sci-fi epic sadly remains deeply flawed. General release. Avatar 3D (12A) ●●●●● (James Cameron, US, 2009) Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez. 166min. See above. General release. The Band Wagon (PG) ●●●●● (Vincente Minnelli, US, 1953) Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Jack Buchannan. 111min. One of the great Minnelli musicals. Buchannan is a highbrow producer who wants to turn Astaire’s comeback into an arthouse take on Faust. There are some fantastic Howard Dietz/Arthur Schwartz numbers and Astaire and Charisse take the opportunity to show off with an array of different dance styles. Glasgow Film Theatre. The Belstone Fox (PG) (James Hill, Glasgow, 1973) Eric Porter, Jeremy Kemp, Bill Travers. 88min. Children’s feature adapted from David Rook’s The Ballad of the Belstone Fox about a clever fox and the hounds who hunt him. Glasgow Film Theatre. A Blonde in Love (Lasky Jedne Plavovlasky) (PG) ●●●●● (Milos Forman, Czech Republic, 1965) Hana Brejchova, Vladamir Pucholt, Vladamir Mensik. 82min. Forman’s first international breakthrough hit is a near perfect, wonderful, sweet and funny sex comedy about a girl who takes a one night stand a little too seriously, with farcical results. Part of An Introduction of European Cinema. Filmhouse, Edinburgh. The Book of Eli (15) ●●●●● (Albert Hughes/Allen Hughes, US, 2010) Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman. 118min. Man has destroyed the earth and all that is left is a ravaged post apocalypse landscape. Loner Eli (Washington) wanders through Mad Max style communities with just one aim – to protect the sacred tome that could hold the key to the survival of the human race. Silly but fun futuristic action thriller. General release. The Boys are Back (12A) ●●●●● (Scott Hicks, Australia, 2009) Clive Owen, Laura Fraser, George MacKay. 104min. See review, page 48. Selected release. Breathless (18) ●●●●● (Yang Ik June, South Korea, 2008) Yang Ik-june, Kim Kkobbi, Lee Hwan. 130min. See review, page 48. Selected release from Fri 29 Jan Bright Star (PG) ●●●●● (Jane Campion, France/Australia/UK, 2009) Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider. 118min. This fictionalised account of poet John Keats’ love affair with Fanny Brawne is a disappointingly bland effort from Jane Campion, whose beautiful imagery and deference to the work of her subject cannot hide a lack of substance and the non-existence of any jot of chemistry between the two lead actors. Odeon at the Quay, Glasgow. Broadcast News (15) ●●●●● (James L Brooks, US, 1987) William Hurt, Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks. 132min. Hurt plays a blandly charismatic presenter whose face is his fortune. Brooks is a hard-edged newshound who still believes that a story is more important than its presentation. Hunter is the work-obsessed, high-flying producer torn between her respect for Aaron and her lust for Tom. Highly entertaining romantic comedy set against a convincing milieu of television network news production and a generation of achievers. Part of Heroes and Villains: Journalism On Screen season.Glasgow Film Theatre. Brothers (15) ●●●●● (Jim Sheridan, US, 2009) Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal. 104min. See review, page 47. Selected release. Burlesque Undressed (15) ●●●●● (Alison Grist, UK, 2010) Immodesty Blaize, Kalani Kokonuts, Perle Noire. 88min. British burlesque star Immodesty Blaize uncovers the burlesque genre in this mix of interviews, performance footage and big band sounds. Odeon Braehead, Renfrew. Chance Pe Dance (PG) (Ken Ghosh, India, 2010) Shahid Kapoor, Genelia D’Souza, Kurush Deboo. 121min. Bollywood adventure in which a struggling young actor, spurred on by his new choreographer girlfriend, enters a talent competition. Selected release.
The Shutdown Director Adam Stafford and writer Alan Bissett’s award-winning short (pictured) about life, family and loss at the edge of the Grangemouth petrochemical plant screening at
the beautifully refurbished Hippodrome. The evening will also include novelist and playwright Bissett performing a scene from his play The Moira Monologues and a live solo set by Stafford who is the front man of band Y’All is Fantasy Island. He will be performing new material and some of his well-known songs. Bissett and Stafford also hope to premiere part of their new project about the Redding mining disaster on the night. Don’t miss. Book now. ■ Hippodrome, Bo’ness on Thu 4 Feb.
Index Film PROFILE
JOHN HURT Born 22 June 1940, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK
Background The third child of a vicar and an actress (yes, really), Hurt followed a strict Catholic education with an escape to London to study art at St Martins. From there, he switched to acting at RADA and aged 22 made his professional debut. Twelve years later he got his big break playing homosexual raconteur Quentin Crisp in the BBC adaptation of The Naked Civil Servant (which he reprised at Christmas in An Englishman in New York). Oscar nominations for Midnight Express and The Elephant Man gave Hurt’s self-evident talent the film industry stamp of approval. Although his subsequent film career has included its fair share of clunkers his choices have usually been interesting failures. Moreover, Hurt has managed to switch between mainstream and independent projects, with increasing success as he has grown into a genuine national treasure (quite an achievement given he was for many years a hell raiser in the company of Oliver Reed and Peter O’Toole). Thus, he followed Hellboy with Alex de la Iglesia’s The Oxford Murders and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control and will soon be seen in the latest Harry Potter. What’s he up to now? Squeezing in promotional duties for one of the half dozen films the hard-working septuagenarian wrapped last year. That’s 44 Inch Chest, a foul-mouthed London gangster film written by the blokes wot wrote Sexy Beast and co- starring hard-men Ray Winstone and Ian McShane.
On 44 Inch Chest ‘Ray [Winstone] gave me the script while we were filming Indiana Jones – for five months! I loved Sexy Beast, of course, and like that film I thought the script for 44 Inch Chest was pure poetry, albeit very profane poetry.’ Interesting fact Hurt’s personal favourite film of his own is the little seen US indie Love and Death on Long Island. (Miles Fielder) ■ 44 Inch Chest is out now on general release. See review.
21 Jan–4 Feb 2010 THE LIST 51